Leonardo da Vinci in Amboise

Why he came

François I had met him in Italy and wanted him in France. Leonardo was sixty-four, his right hand was failing, and Rome had not gone well for him. He crossed the Alps by mule with his pupil Francesco Melzi, his servant Battista, and three paintings in his luggage — among them the portrait now in the Louvre. That is the detail people find hardest to believe: the Mona Lisa came to France because Leonardo carried it up my street.

What he did here

Not much painting. He designed court festivals, sketched an octagonal palace and a canal scheme for Romorantin that was never built, and worked on the double-helix staircase idea that turns up later at Chambord — the attribution is argued about, and honestly it will stay argued about. Mostly he was an old man with a king who liked visiting him.

The visiting is the part that survives best. François was in his early twenties, the château was five hundred metres away, and by every account he came often. There is supposed to be a tunnel between the two buildings. There is not, or at least nobody has found one.

Where to see it now

Two separate places, two separate tickets. The château holds the chapel and the memorial slab. The Clos Lucé holds the house he died in, the gardens, and full-size machines built from his drawings — the practical comparison is on the Clos Lucé page. Doing both in a day is the standard Amboise plan and it is a good one.

His family line did not end with him — he had no children, but the half-brothers did, and descendants have been traced into the present day.

What there is to book

Not the entrance ticket — that is bought at the château’s own desk when you arrive. What is bookable is the guiding, and the day trips that include entry to Amboise along with the other Loire châteaux.

Frequently asked questions